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India’s wearable market shipped a record 48.1 million units in the third quarter this year, a 29.2 per cent year-over-year (YoY) growth, a new report showed on Wednesday.

Apart from the new smartwatch and earwear models, smart rings became prominent in the third quarter, according to the data from International Data Corporation (IDC).

The smart ring category is generating a lot of interest from consumers, particularly due to the interesting form factor and several launches in the past few months. 

“Smart rings add novelty to the wearable device space, with brands trying to position it as a fashion accessory and a non-intrusive health device. While currently there are very few models, we can expect more mainstream brands launching more affordable options next year,“ said Upasana Joshi, Research Manager, Client Devices, IDC India. 

Ultrahuman led the smart ring category with an impressive 75.5 per cent market share, followed by Pi Ring at 10.9 per cent, and boAt (Imagine Marketing) with an 8.2 per cent market share in the third quarter.

Overall, the domestic wearable market shipped 105.9 million units in the first three quarters of 2023, which is more than 100.1 million units shipped in 2022. 

The overall average selling price (ASPs) declined by 20.4 per cent from $27.2 to $21.7.

“Brands have upped the game with high-end specifications at entry-level pricing. This combined with high-decibel marketing campaigns and promotions will drive Q4 shipments, resulting in strong double digit annual growth in 2023,” said Vikas Sharma, senior market analyst, Wearable Devices, IDC India. 

boAt (Imagine Marketing) continued to dominate the overall wearable market with 29.7 per cent share, growing by 19.4 per cent. In TWS too, it maintained leadership with 37.9 per cent share, 33.3 per cent growth YoY. It stood third in the smartwatch category with 14.2 per cent market share. 

Noise (Nexxbase) stood second in overall wearables with 10.8 per cent share and flat 0.6 per cent YoY shipment growth. It dropped to second in the smartwatch category with 20.7 per cent market share and maintained its fourth position in the TWS segment at 7.7 per cent share, growing by 20.4 per cent YoY, the report mentioned.

Smartwatches remained the fastest growing category with 16.9 million units, growing by 41 per cent YoY as incumbent vendors shipped aggressively to stock for the upcoming festive season. 

Within wearables, the share of earwear dropped to 64.4 per cent from 67.3 per cent a year ago, but shipments still grew 23.6 per cent to 30.9 million units, according to the report.